Not to be a downer, but this doesn't count for the competition. It has been stated multiple times that the focus is video game systems and things such as PC's and cellphone OS's and the like don't count.

Now, I could be wrong, but people who have asked about making PC tutorials already were told it would be no good.

Yeah, I dunno. The rules have been confusing me, as the others category isn't overly specific. They should really clear up that category some, as I've heard PC related things are no good, but they don't seem to be worrying about them.

What about Sausage Head's Tutorial on Google? (EDIT: Well I looked at the thread.... I guess I just wasted 3 hours of my life... Costello and others say that PC doesn't count.

Click to expand...

You could just make it for the sake of helping out the community.

Click to expand...

And not win prizes for it? What blasphemy!

Go ahead and keep improving this tutorial with some formatting and such though, and it's sure to help somebody.

Click to expand...

LOL Yeah I might kinda put this thread on the back burner until the competition is over... As for the formatting. I've never really made a tutorial nor used the extra BB code stuff, so I will just have to learn how to start using that stuff correctly. So this thread is on hold till after the Homebrew Bounty. EDIT: Just saw Vulpes' comment. Thanks for that comment. That is very encouraging. I will make sure I finish this. As for the tutorial, How is it? Its not 100% done, but some feedback would be nice. Some tips on how to correctly format it would be nice too.

Coming from someone who has used Linux and other Unix-likes extensively over the past years, I do like the concept of writing a guide like this but I think this is a very bad (start of a) guide.

Criticism attempting to be constructive below.

Quoted from Quietlyawesome94:

Why should I use Linux?​

Starting with a section for this was a very good idea. As for the reasons you provide...

Quoted from Quietlyawesome94:

The fact that Linux doesn't have Viruses.
This is a pretty moot point for several reasons. It boils down to the fact that viruses aren't actually a problem on Windows if you use either an Anti-virus or common sense.

Quoted from Quietlyawesome94:

The fact that Linux doesn't have Viruses.
Well its due largely to the fact that most Linux software is something we like to call "Open Source."
Actually, the fact that most desktop software for Linux is open source is what leads to it being exploited (see the answer to my next quote). Not to say open source is a bad thing, which it isn't.

The fact that exploits are less common for Linux is mainly due to the fact that it's userbase is less than a tenth of Windows' and secondly due to the security principles of Unix, open source or not. The only instances where open source generally leads to more security is for extremely huge projects with an enormous amount of people involved; something quite rare, particularly for normal desktop applications.

Quoted from Quietlyawesome94:

The fact that Linux doesn't have Viruses.
Linux open source software is a very hard place for a virus to hide in and/or get into.
While this is true, your statement here certainly doesn't imply that open source leads to security. You see, it's not by putting something in the code (although this can and has been done, even in the Linux kernel itself) that hackers exploit open source software, it's by simply reading the code. By reading source code, hackers can not only very easily find deliberate flaws, they can come up with a magnitude of innovative ways to exploit the program into doing what they want as they have been provided with everything there is to know about how the program works.

Quoted from Quietlyawesome94:

Pros; Free Software - A large variety of open and free software that completes the same task just as well if not better than their Windows counterparts.
This isn't a pro, there's lots of free software for Windows too. Also, you'll have to name what specifically is done better if you want that part of what you're saying to actually mean something.

Quoted from Quietlyawesome94:

Simplicity - If you're a casual web-surfer/Facebooker and want a simple enviroment to quickly log on and log off... As well as the ++ of not worrying about Viruses/Malware.... Linux is perfect for you.
You're not providing any reason why Linux would be better suited for such a person. If they have an anti-virus, they are already not worrying about Viruses/Malware and, based on what you're saying here, have no reason to make the switch to Linux. For them to want to switch, there would have to be some kind of benefit, like speed, which Ubuntu certainly doesn't provide.

Quoted from Quietlyawesome94:

Preferably Linux Ubuntu or Linux Mint.
Stating that the only two distros you have used are preferable over others is ignorant to the point where it's completely ridiculous and won't convince anyone.

Quoted from Quietlyawesome94:

Revive Those older systems! - The ability to take older PC'S that came with something archaic like 256 megabytes of RAM and Windows 98... Take those older PC's and use a Linux Distro specificly designed for older PC's (In
this case Puppy Linux Puppy Linux)
Recommending a distro you later state you haven't used is hardly convincing. Also, there's generally more to be gained from installing a generally lightweight distro than one designed specifically for older PCs. The former tends to have a lot more support and updates than the latter and also provide you with a lot more possibilities.

QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM)

Click to expand...

Here are a few more words that best describe the great things about Linux; stability, variaty, an application for just about any thing you can think of, updates every few months with updates and improvements to the OS

Click to expand...

Windows has all of these. Also, "updates every few months" is a concept almost unique to Ubuntu - other distros tend to get updates much faster.

QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM)

Click to expand...

And like I said you can really screw up your computer if you start messing around with stuff you really shouldn't be messing around with.

Click to expand...

This is not a con, you can't "mess up your computer" more with Linux than with Windows and you can't really actually mess it up in either. Whether you're likely to mess up more frequently in Linux is another question.

QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM)

Click to expand...

have the time to be downloading 800 megabyte to 1.3 Gigabyte Operating Systems just for the sake of messing around with them (I'm also on AT&T so that means I have a limit of 150 Gigabytes a month for Internet)

Click to expand...

Only bloatly distros like Ubuntu have isos this big, if you spend more than five minutes looking you'll find that many of the most popular distros are only a couple hundred megabytes or less.

QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM)

Click to expand...

But if you're just starting out with Linux. Go for Ubuntu. Its good and simple!

Click to expand...

Again, it's extremely ignorant to imply that the only thing you've used would be the best choice (seeing as Mint is closely based on Ubuntu). It's getting increasingly common for Ubuntu users to do so, something that's really sad to see for anyone who has used more than one Linux distro (even if they prefer Ubuntu in the end). It's like playing one single video game and then saying that it is the best video game in existence and that no one should look any further than this one video game. Please don't do it.

As for things to mention to actually catch the interest of Windows users, promoting the concept of the software repository present in all modern distros is one thing. Being able to have any program downloaded and installed in a matter of seconds, without having to search in a web browser, unarchive and go through installers like in windows, is one really cool thing that should appeal to almost anyone. Another thing is the speed that can be achieved using a lightweight distro. One fifth of the boot time of Windows and a snappier browser (except for flash, flash support has always been shit in Linux. Less of a point now that HTML5 is available and spreading though.) is not hard to set up with a distro like Arch (or any of the many other lightweight distros).

<!--quoteo(post=3627437:date=May 5 2011, 12:18 AM:name=Mazor)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mazor @ May 5 2011, 12:18 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3627437"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Coming from someone who has used Linux and other Unix-likes extensively over the past years, I do like the concept of writing a guide like this but I think this is a very bad (start of a) guide.

Criticism attempting to be constructive below.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><div align='center'>Why should I use Linux?</div><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Starting with a section for this was a very good idea. As for the reasons you provide...

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The fact that Linux doesn't have Viruses.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is a pretty moot point for several reasons. It boils down to the fact that viruses aren't actually a problem on Windows if you use either an Anti-virus or common sense.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The fact that Linux doesn't have Viruses.
Well its due largely to the fact that most Linux software is something we like to call "Open Source."<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Actually, the fact that most desktop software for Linux is open source is what leads to it being exploited (see the answer to my next quote). Not to say open source is a bad thing, which it isn't.

The fact that exploits are less common for Linux is mainly due to the fact that it's userbase is less than a tenth of Windows' and secondly due to the security principles of Unix, open source or not. The only instances where open source generally leads to more security is for extremely huge projects with an enormous amount of people involved; something quite rare, particularly for normal desktop applications.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The fact that Linux doesn't have Viruses.
Linux open source software is a very hard place for a virus to hide in and/or get into.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
While this is true, your statement here certainly doesn't imply that open source leads to security. You see, it's not by putting something in the code (although this can and has been done, even in the Linux kernel itself) that hackers exploit open source software, it's by simply reading the code. By reading source code, hackers can not only very easily find deliberate flaws, they can come up with a magnitude of innovative ways to exploit the program into doing what they want as they have been provided with everything there is to know about how the program works.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Pros; Free Software - A large variety of open and free software that completes the same task just as well if not better than their Windows counterparts.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This isn't a pro, there's lots of free software for Windows too. Also, you'll have to name what specifically is done better if you want that part of what you're saying to actually mean something.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Simplicity - If you're a casual web-surfer/Facebooker and want a simple enviroment to quickly log on and log off... As well as the ++ of not worrying about Viruses/Malware.... Linux is perfect for you.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You're not providing any reason why Linux would be better suited for such a person. If they have an anti-virus, they are already not worrying about Viruses/Malware and, based on what you're saying here, have no reason to make the switch to Linux. For them to want to switch, there would have to be some kind of benefit, like speed, which Ubuntu certainly doesn't provide.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Preferably Linux Ubuntu or Linux Mint.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Stating that the only two distros you have used are preferable over others is ignorant to the point where it's completely ridiculous and won't convince anyone.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Revive Those older systems! - The ability to take older PC'S that came with something archaic like 256 megabytes of RAM and Windows 98... Take those older PC's and use a Linux Distro specificly designed for older PC's (In
this case Puppy Linux <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppy_Linux" target="_blank">Puppy Linux</a>)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Recommending a distro you later state you haven't used is hardly convincing. Also, there's generally more to be gained from installing a generally lightweight distro than one designed specifically for older PCs. The former tends to have a lot more support and updates than the latter and also provide you with a lot more possibilities.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Here are a few more words that best describe the great things about Linux; stability, variaty, an application for just about any thing you can think of, updates every few months with updates and improvements to the OS<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Windows has all of these. Also, "updates every few months" is a concept almost unique to Ubuntu - other distros tend to get updates much faster.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->And like I said you can really screw up your computer if you start messing around with stuff you really shouldn't be messing around with.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is not a con, you can't "mess up your computer" more with Linux than with Windows and you can't really actually mess it up in either. Whether you're likely to mess up more frequently in Linux is another question.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->have the time to be downloading 800 megabyte to 1.3 Gigabyte Operating Systems just for the sake of messing around with them (I'm also on AT&T so that means I have a limit of 150 Gigabytes a month for Internet)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Only bloatly distros like Ubuntu have isos this big, if you spend more than five minutes looking you'll find that many of the most popular distros are only a couple hundred megabytes or less.

<!--quoteo(post=3625781:date=May 4 2011, 03:47 AM:name=Quietlyawesome94)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Quietlyawesome94 @ May 4 2011, 03:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=3625781"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->But if you're just starting out with Linux. Go for Ubuntu. Its good and simple!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Again, it's extremely ignorant to imply that the only thing you've used would be the best choice (seeing as Mint is closely based on Ubuntu). It's getting increasingly common for Ubuntu users to do so, something that's really sad to see for anyone who has used more than one Linux distro (even if they prefer Ubuntu in the end). It's like playing one single video game and then saying that it is the best video game in existence and that no one should look any further than this one video game. Please don't do it.

As for things to mention to actually catch the interest of Windows users, promoting the concept of the software repository present in all modern distros is one thing. Being able to have any program downloaded and installed in a matter of seconds, without having to search in a web browser, unarchive and go through installers like in windows, is one really cool thing that should appeal to almost anyone. Another thing is the speed that can be achieved using a lightweight distro. One fifth of the boot time of Windows and a snappier browser (except for flash, flash support has always been shit in Linux. Less of a point now that HTML5 is available and spreading though.) is not hard to set up with a distro like Arch (or any of the many other lightweight distros).
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Thank you very much for this helpful criticism. As for this tutorial (If you can call it that) I highly regret posting it as soon as I did. Im probably going to scrap the whole thread and just leave it as "Under Construction" until I have the time to flesh it out and make it into something really helpful. I have personally never made a tutorial or anything like this before, I'll work on the formatting and content. Also, what I did post was only written in just a few hours. And as I previously mentioned. I do regret that. I really do want to be a contribution to the gbatemp community, this thread was just a bit of a mistake. (LOL look at the previous post, this thread doesn't even qualify for the gbatemp tutorial competition!)